<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Morbustale by liesl</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26757712">Morbustale</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/liesl/pseuds/liesl'>liesl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Undertale (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 09:36:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>870</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26757712</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/liesl/pseuds/liesl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The surface is no longer a home. </p>
<p>A disease has taken hold of the humans, and it has turned them into what they fear most.</p>
<p>Monsters. </p>
<p>Frisk is abandoned and, equipped with a spare jumper and a bag, they flee to Mount Ebbott, praying for some sort of sanctuary. Of course, the only thing they find is one of them.</p>
<p>In the underground, everything is better. These "monsters" don't seem to be as bad as those on the surface. Even that flower wasn't so bad (It did seem to cough an awful lot though, and it seemed an awfully grey colour when she was rescued, it's smile disappearing, It coughs a final time, slumping over and slipping back into the Earth from whence it came. That shouldn't be a problem though, right?).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Morbustale</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So I know talking about disease is slightly... controversial in our current climate, but this first chapter was written long before Miss Rona's world tour, so this shouldn't be prophetic in any way, shape or form.</p>
<p> (I hope lmao)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This was it. This was the only place that Frisk knew they were safe.</p>
<p> The top of Mt Ebott.</p>
<p> They had chased them away from their small town, crazed and infuriated by disease and infection. But no one would find them at the top of the mountain. Not even <i>they</i> were stupid enough to venture into the snow in these conditions. <br/> Frisk was almost regretting their decision of coming up here, the wind whipping up snowflakes into their face and eyes even though they was sheltered by a gigantic pine tree. Maybe they should’ve grabbed more when they left. Well, more than a singular jumper and a bag with a simple first aid kit, that’s for sure. </p>
<p> Once night fell, they would venture back into town for more supplies, and possibly rescue a few people. </p>
<p> For now though, they were safe. </p>
<p> Frisk shivered and pulled their limbs closer to their body to try and keep as much heat, but it wasn’t helping. Their temperature was dropping rapidly, and they just knew that they had the beginnings of hyperthermia. </p>
<p> <i>Maybe the top of the mountain’s warm?</i> They thought. It had always been rumoured, for some reason, that the magic barrier had a certain warmth about it to keep monsters from climbing out. Well, the monsters lived on the surface now, so it wasn’t helping all that much. Gathering up their bag, Frisk waded through the ocean of snow. Their hair whipped around her eyes, blinding them. They weren’t sure which way was up or down, right or left, and the blinding snow wasn’t helping either. </p>
<p> The snow seemed to thin under their foot as they plodded on, an indicator they were getting close to heat. Frisk bit down a grin, not wanting to get their hopes up. At last, as they felt the texture change to a much firmer grass, they felt a slight warmth, but, oddly enough, it was coming from behind them, not in front. </p>
<p> <i>What the-?</i> </p>
<p> Frisk whirled around just in time to be met by one of <i>them.</i> </p>
<p> The first thing they noticed was its skin. It seemed to be melting off its face, globs of fat hanging off and flaps of skin swaying with momentum. It had patches of fur sticking out of the places its skin had fallen from, and the hair atop its head had become greasy and untamed after weeks of neglect. The creature was hunched over on all fours and had claws at least the size of Frisk themself, but the most horrifying thing was its eyes. They were tortured and bloodshot, weeks of no sleep had driven it over the edge, and they were no longer a human shade of green, blue or brown. Instead, they were a nauseating shade of yellow. </p>
<p> It met Frisk’s gaze and <i>smiled</i>, giving them a show of its small razor-sharp teeth. They were frozen, willing themself to move but found their limbs were paralysed and heavy. They were a statue. The only thing they could move were their eyes, but they would be no help against it. Their eyes flew to a massive paw of the creature as it pressed against their chest, and they prayed silently. </p>
<p> <i>Please, if anything’s up there, why now? Why us?</i></p>
<p> <i>I don’t understand.</i> Tears began to well up in their eyes and they tried to blink them away, but they didn’t want to take their gaze off the paw as it increased the pressure. </p>
<p> <i>I can’t understand.</i></p>
<p> <i>Why-</i></p>
<p> But their train of thought was shattered as they felt themself flying back into the mountain. A scream erupted out of their throat involuntarily as adrenaline finally kicked in. Frisk was tossed around and flipped over. They could see the barrier approaching as well as feel it, the temperature was increasing rapidly as they dropped towards it. They took in a deep breath as the thick, blue barrier approached her. It didn’t hit them, as they’d presumed, but it slowed them down considerably. It was like they were sinking through treacle. Scolding hot treacle, but it managed to slow their fall by a considerable amount. </p>
<p> As they breached the other side, a shocking wave of cold made them gasp and splutter. Their fall began to pick up speed, but it was stopped as they slammed into the ground. </p>
<p> ...</p>
<p>Where were they?</p>
<p> <i><b>The underground.</b></i> A dark voice whispered in the back of their mind.</p>
<p> Frisk, got up, astounded by how little the fall had hurt. The barrier must’ve really slowed them down. As they tried to walk, however, their knee throbbed, and they cried out. </p>
<p> <i><b>Behind your knee is a cut.</b></i> The voice whispered again. <i><b>Fix it.</b></i></p>
<p> Something in the voice scared Frisk. It was… off, or something. They complied quickly, reaching into their bag for something. </p>
<p> <i>Bandage, bandage, bandage!</i> They scrambled around until they hit the soft packaging, and they tore it with their teeth. Frisk applied it around their knee, waiting until they had enough strength to get up and move. </p>
<p> <i><b>Off we go.</b></i></p>
<p> <i>Off we go.</i> They agreed. </p>
<p> Frisk heaved themself off the ground and found no pain. Instead, they felt a hole in their soul they didn’t know they had being filled by something strange and... raw. </p>
<p> <b><i>Determination.</i></b></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I know it's not very long, but chapters will prolly be longer in the future. Also, please tell me if I mess up on Frisk's pronouns throughout this whole thing. I make stupid mistakes like that all the time, so please tell me, thank you in advance.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>